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The Heart and Soul of a Great Campaign
I am interested in hearing what other GMs and players think is the heart and soul of a great campaign. In my humble opinion, nothing is more important than a good villain. They are what turn simple adventurers into heroes and the search for loot into epic quests!
When I begin a campaign I will usually brainstorm ideas for no less than a dozen or so villains. As the game goes on I try to work each one into the game until I find one that really sticks under the skin of the players. The process is ongoing. I have shifted the direction of an entire campaign after two years of play to work in, what i thought would be, a far superior villain.
I know I have found my guy when I have a villain that provokes emotion from my players and by virtue of their ambitions push the story forward. Once you get an emotional reaction from the players you know they are hooked. Most of the villains I design play minor roles in the game but once I have one that meets my criteria I make sure he sticks it to the party on a regular basis. This keeps emotions running high whenever the party has to deal with the baddy.
About a month and a half ago we started a new campaign. The group has already interacted with a number of candidates and I have a pretty good idea where I am going. Although my group still talks about the "villain from our old campaign":https://adoraith.obsidianportal.com/characters/cuthalion as if these new guys don't stack up so I know i have work to do.
So what do you think? What makes a great campaign? What makes a great villain?
"Adoraith: Echoes of Epirus":https://adoraith-echoes-of-epirus.obsidianportal.com/dashboard
When I begin a campaign I will usually brainstorm ideas for no less than a dozen or so villains. As the game goes on I try to work each one into the game until I find one that really sticks under the skin of the players. The process is ongoing. I have shifted the direction of an entire campaign after two years of play to work in, what i thought would be, a far superior villain.
I know I have found my guy when I have a villain that provokes emotion from my players and by virtue of their ambitions push the story forward. Once you get an emotional reaction from the players you know they are hooked. Most of the villains I design play minor roles in the game but once I have one that meets my criteria I make sure he sticks it to the party on a regular basis. This keeps emotions running high whenever the party has to deal with the baddy.
About a month and a half ago we started a new campaign. The group has already interacted with a number of candidates and I have a pretty good idea where I am going. Although my group still talks about the "villain from our old campaign":https://adoraith.obsidianportal.com/characters/cuthalion as if these new guys don't stack up so I know i have work to do.
So what do you think? What makes a great campaign? What makes a great villain?
"Adoraith: Echoes of Epirus":https://adoraith-echoes-of-epirus.obsidianportal.com/dashboard
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A great villain is one that the players hate, but is not easy to kill.
killervp
"A God...Rebuilt":https://a-god-rebuilt.obsidianportal.com
"OP's COTM April 2012":http://blog.obsidianportal.com/a-god-rebuilt-aprils-cotm/
Over 300 Fans, and Looking for More!
Just trying to help out.
"Adoraith: Echoes of Epirus":https://adoraith-echoes-of-epirus.obsidianportal.com
One of my favorite RPG advice gems is "always try to make the other PCs look awesome". If everyone in the group does this, things tend to go remarkably well.
As for villains, I suppose I would add that a concrete connection to the immediate setting is essential. Abstract or distant villains may make great set pieces, but its the ones that regularly reach out and touch the PCs (even indirectly) that are most effective - so in some games it may make sense to spend more time developing the lieutenants than the Big Bad.
You are right that when the players work together the campaign can really click. I try to imagine my group cooperating and just have to laugh. We have been gaming together for almost 13 years and, while they do get the job done, the ribbing and joking tends to undermine their "heroic" reputation.
"Adoraith: Echoes of Epirus":https://adoraith-echoes-of-epirus.obsidianportal.com
I agree that what makes the campaign is the people that play and that includes players and GM. Everyone working together to have fun is what makes for memorable times and what keeps us coming back for more.
As far as the design and execution of the game goes, apart from the above, I would say the most important things are a good narrative or story line, a promising objective and detailed conflict or obstacles to the PCs. The conflict could include a great antagonist, and I use the word “antagonist” because I always remember Ben Bova’s advice in “The Craft of Writing Science Fiction that Sells” © 1994 Writer’s Digest Books, where he says: “Eschew Villains. Antagonists believe they are heroes.”
Attention to detail and a good comprehensive background of political, social and geographical information are always good to have, particularly when they can be backed up by visual PLAYER AIDS in a game.
But back to your initial question, the HEART AND SOUL is most definitely to be found in the group of players.
twiggyleaf
CURRENT CAMPAIGN: "Mysteria":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/mysteria - set in Wolfgang Baur’s MIDGARD.
Previous CotM Aug 2012: "Shimring":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/shimring
"I met a traveller from an antique land....."
CotM May 2016: Mysteria: set in Wolfgang Baur’s MIDGARD.
Previous CotM Aug 2012: Shimring: High Level Multiplanar Campaign
Inner Council Member
I love that quote.
Crafting the story is what is the most fun for me. The hard part is not to show my hand too quickly. I often become overly excited by a plot hook but know that revealing too quickly will ruin the drama of the moment.
Using visual player aids not only helps immersion into the story but is also can be a lot of fun to make! I also like to use Paizo's item cards for all of my magical items. I run a low magic campaign and enjoy creating "my own magical items":https://adoraith-echoes-of-epirus.obsidianportal.com/wikis/the-treasure-horde. Putting appropriately aged maps, letters, and anything else you can create into a players hands will make the experience much more fulfilling. What I don't like is simply printing out a handout. It doesn't take much effort to doctor it up to make it look like the actual document that the characters are holding.
My most obsessive moment came when I built a "three dimensional castle":https://adoraith.obsidianportal.com/wikis/castle-brunhilda that the party wanted to clear of monsters to serve as their own base of operations.
Good Times
"Adoraith: Echoes of Epirus":https://adoraith-echoes-of-epirus.obsidianportal.com
I like the special items you show in your campaign and your use of the PAIZO CARD pictures. Who WOULDN’T want a Human Bane Battle Axe crafted by Hobgoblins of Othon Gol???
I also sometimes design special weapons, e.g. "Sir Renly of St Rosinade":https://mysteria.obsidianportal.com/items/sir-renly-of-st-rosinade was inspired by the backstory of one of my players. His story was so good, that I made this special sword for him. Alas, he is now dead and the sword lies in the Tomb of Qoraz on the Isle of Karn’lothra.
Your THREE DIMENSIONAL CASTLE is utterly amazing. That must have been a real humdinger of a session. We generally don’t get too heavily involved in 3D stuff because we don’t have much time to prepare the area beforehand. We used to mainly use vinyl mats with the odd prop and now tend to use a grid map projected through a flat screen telly on its back. I find any visual aid adds to the enjoyment. Even the simple ones!
Thanks for bringing up this thread. It is nice to get involved in something that is not totally TECHIE (which is NOT my strongest area but big SHOUT OUT to those who have helped me overcome these shortfallings – and I think you KNOW who you ARE!)
twiggyleaf
CURRENT CAMPAIGN: "Mysteria":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/mysteria - set in Wolfgang Baur’s MIDGARD.
Previous CotM Aug 2012: "Shimring":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/shimring
"I met a traveller from an antique land....."
CotM May 2016: Mysteria: set in Wolfgang Baur’s MIDGARD.
Previous CotM Aug 2012: Shimring: High Level Multiplanar Campaign
Inner Council Member
I typically use some sort of 3D props for big sessions. They are fun but costly to build so I don't get to do it very often. "Here you can see pictures":https://adoraith.obsidianportal.com/adventure-log/the-end-of-the-journey of our last session from the original "Adoraith":https://adoraith.obsidianportal.com/ Campaign where I used some 3D props. We literally have thousands of miniatures but my favorite is the 3D model of the Kraken I built for that session. So cool...
Oh how I love intelligent weapons. I particularly like when the wielder tries to do something that the item does not agree with and the battle of ego's ensues! One of my favorite things to do as a sub-plot is for a character to start out with a broken or incomplete ancestral weapon that they have to reassemble. As they reassemble the item, it becomes more powerful. This allows the player to grow with their weapon. I think the worst thing a DM could do is just throw a +1 item with no other special abilities into the game. To me, magical items should be special. Each and every one of them should feel unique which is why I like to run a low magic campaign. I give very few magical items but each and everyone has a special story and ability. I also make magic a thing to be wary of. Each item has the potential to carry a curse that makes using magic risky.
While I work as a programmer for a living I prefer to spend all of my time developing content for my portal page. I feel like my time (as limited as it is) is much better spent bringing my world to life than making the page look pretty. I am very grateful to have one of my players take over the adventure log for me so that I can focus completely on story and world development.
"Adoraith: Echoes of Epirus":https://adoraith-echoes-of-epirus.obsidianportal.com
twigs
"I met a traveller from an antique land....."
CotM May 2016: Mysteria: set in Wolfgang Baur’s MIDGARD.
Previous CotM Aug 2012: Shimring: High Level Multiplanar Campaign
Inner Council Member
Nice site- will be keeping an eye on you!!
killervp
"A God...Rebuilt":https://a-god-rebuilt.obsidianportal.com
"OP's COTM April 2012":http://blog.obsidianportal.com/a-god-rebuilt-aprils-cotm/
Over 300 Fans, and Looking for More!
Just trying to help out.
I have a collection of many thousands of the pre-painted Wizards and re-based mage-knight. My wife is an amazing miniature painter but she only does the PCs and doesn't do much of the monsters and really big beasties.
good times!
"Adoraith: Echoes of Epirus":https://adoraith-echoes-of-epirus.obsidianportal.com